The eBook Vs. The Printed Word

It all began in the mid 15^th century when Johannes Gutenberg started printing his bibles. Since then, books have become an integral part of everyday life the world over. In recent years there has been a new development in the publishing world; The e-book. The e-book is basically a digital or electronic book. The words are taken and put into electronic format to be read on computers, personal digital assistants (PDAs) or other forms of electronic media readers.

The pros of the E-Book

• You can carry as many books on your person as your memory storage allows.
• They don't take up space in your house that could be used for storage.
• You can purchase them online for cheap or in some cases free.
• They are more efficient when doing things that require use of your hands such as exercising. It can be inconvenient to flip pages whereas e-books are a push of a button.

The pros of the printed book

• You don't have to worry about battery life to read a book.
• If the book has illustration's you can better appreciate them on paper form.
• A computer file can be deleted. Whereas a book would need to be destroyed.
• To book lovers, there is something visually appealing to shelves full of books.

For those of you who are new to e-books, you can purchase them online and then upload them onto your PDA. Amazon.com has recently announced the Kindle. This is basically an machine where you can buy and download books from amazon.com straight onto your Kindle by way of wireless connectivity.

Another benefit to the e-book is that aspiring writers can create their own e-book for distribution. In this day and age where getting a book published can be an excruciating difficult experience, this road may help you break into the writing field.

For some the purchase of a book can be based on the book jacket illustrations and summaries. For others it's the portability and convenience of not having to pack a several book in their purse for long trips or commutes. In this day of 'going green', it can be said that e-books reduce the amount of trees that are cut down. For those who are not technologically inclined, it can be less stressful to just go buy a book. Either way, whether it be regular books or e-books, as long as you are reading, you win.